AFRICAN-AMERICAN AUTHOR GAINS TOEHOLD IN FORMER "WHITES ONLY" TERRITORY AND DISCOVERS TENNIS AS A PANACEA FOR MENOPAUSAL RELIEF

AFRICAN-AMERICAN AUTHOR GAINS TOEHOLD IN FORMER "WHITES ONLY" TERRITORY AND DISCOVERS TENNIS AS A PANACEA FOR MENOPAUSAL RELIEF. Menopause, Sisterhood and Tennis By Alice Wilson-Fried.

OAKLAND, CA, August 14 -- 2003 In her quest to become the first woman of color to publish a book chronicling her own menopausal journey, Alice Wilson-Fried achieves an historic first by breaking through the daunting barriers in two very distinct spheres: the worlds of publishing and tennis. Bringing a long-overlooked cultural perspective to the subject of menopause, Wilson-Fried, in the process, also dares to redefine herself as an athlete in a sport that had, historically, been off-limits to blacks.

"I'm black and grew up where nonwhites weren't allowed on tennis courts. So, I had attitude with a capital ‘A' about this elite sport—I wasn't white and I hadn't worn a size six since the tenth grade. I was the least likely person in the world to hit the courts"--Alice Wilson-Fried, Menopause, Sisterhood and Tennis.

A rich fusion of hot flashes, warm friendships, and fuzzy yellow balls are infused throughout Menopause, Sisterhood and Tennis (Basic Health Publications, $14.95). Wilson-Fried sheds light on a number of awkward and eventually empowering experiences: how being a part of a team, despite her initial misgivings, added excitement and self-awareness to her life; of how wanting to be a good tennis player, despite having never participated in any athletic endeavor, improved her physical health and her mental attitude; and of how a lifestyle change, despite being counterintuitive to everything she had previously known, helped her put menopause in its place. Describing the motivational tools and exercise she discovered to improve her tennis game, she shares how she not only got her body more fit, but how she emerged a vibrant, outgoing woman taking charge of the second half of her life. Tennis, she writes, gave her the courage to pay the toll of aging: exercising.

"As culture would dictate in my hometown, being thin was okay, even expected, when you're young. But a skinny mature woman is considered sickly or abnormal. By these standards, I figured that as long as I could fit comfortably into a Southwest Airlines seat, I was damn near anorexic. In a you-are-what-you-are kind of way, this notion helped me come to terms with the big-babe, golden-girl phase of life I'd entered. What did bug me about my weight, however, was that I couldn't kick tennis butt if I couldn't get to the ball quick enough. Excess weight slows a body down."
   
Wilson-Fried found that playing tennis brought her face to face with her aging fears, real and imagined, physical as well as emotional. Working on her tennis game forced her to undergo a personal character assessment—introspection that enabled her to develop the mental stamina she needed to combat the emotional meltdown of menopause.

"I recalled my mama's words, "If people call you stupid and you believe ‘em, you stupid. But if you think you're smart, no matter what people say, you smart." What Mama called mind power is called mental toughness in tennis. Every tennis task I accomplished fed me back the self-esteem menopause had zapped out of me. And with each success, the fear of impending rocker-readiness ceased to overwhelm me. Could tennis become my ticket to mental and emotional longevity?"

Becoming a part of a women's team was a challenge Wilson-Fried took on reluctantly. Her mother had said, "Nothing but trouble ever comes from a bunch of women hanging around together." But joining the Chabot Canyon Racquet Club Women's 3.0 tennis team became another turning point in her life. Compelled to bond with her teammates, she learned that "sister friendships" stem from women who share common interests, despite their different personalities and points of view. Team tennis begets "sister friendships", she discovered, personally validating studies that have proven that the dynamics of relationships with others outside the family circle can be "youthfulnizing," thereby easing the aging process.

"There is no anti-aging tonic more potent than time with the girls."

This "menopause book" shows how the mind/body connection of an organized sport can affect the mind/body alterations brought on my menopause. It also inspires by example and teaches through tips that have been both researched and experienced. Additionally, appendices offer insight into tennis fashion for the "older and thicker player," recipes guaranteed to effectuate camaraderie after the match, and on-the-court, doubles-communication techniques.





This article courtesy of http://learnmenopause.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Did you find what you are looking for? If NOT.. Try google.

Submit Your Article